Friday, January 04, 2008

Jan. 4th Dem Delegate Count: Clinton 52%; Obama 20%; Edwards 14%

Here's what most people don't know about the Democratic Party's voting process: You don't elect people directly; you elect delegates, who actually elect people. And 20% of those Democratic Party delegates are known as superdelegates.

Ahem.

Superdelegates?

The Democratic National Convention, where the Democratic presidential ticket is formally agreed upon, has 796 superdelegates. Superdelegates to the Democratic Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, various additional elected officials, as well as members of the Democratic National Committee.

A candidate needs a simple majority of the combined delegate and superdelegate votes to secure the nomination. Democratic delegates from state caucuses and primaries number 3253. This means that the total number of votes is approximately 4000, so superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.7%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for about four fifths (80.3%) of the Democratic convention delegates.

So, here's how the Dem prez primary race really looks this morning:

Get it? Got it? Good.

I know it sounds weird, but consider the Republican Party's alternative:

As of the 2008 nominating cycle, the Republican Party does not have superdelegates. It does, however, have 463 unpledged delegates, 123 of whom are Republican National Committee members.

Imagine that! Supersecret backroom superdelegates who pull the strings without ever having to stand up and publicly announce whom they support for the presidency.

1 Comments:

The Republican Party is a sick joke, and the people of this country are fed up with them. From Nixon to Bush, and from Scooter to Larry "Toilet Stall" Craig, the Republicans have proven themselves to be a bunch of lying, corrupt, evil, perverted, over-spending crooks. When you look at all the money Bill Clinton left this country, it makes us all cry to know that Bush spent it all. When the money was gone, Bush went to China for help. Just think, we owe money to China! That is the Bush way. Cheney is no better. You can't trust either of them. No one does. Why are we in Iraq? The war should be on terror, not in Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, and yet Bush has spent all that money to fight "his" war. Yes his, because many Republicans have backed off from the war. By the way, the war in Iraq has cost the U.S. almost five hundred billion dollars. Forget Rudy. Rudy Giuliani is no hero. While he is often called the hero of 9/11, the truth is that Rudy was a terrible leader during his years as mayor of New York City. He made bad decisions and took a girlfriend while being married. In fact, he even wanted his lover to live in the same house with his wife. Most people would call this perverted. New Yorkers were so sick of his antics, that they wanted him out of office. Then came 9/11. The only reason people call Giuliani a hero today, is because he just happened to be NYC's mayor during that bad time. Any mayor would be looked at as a hero if they showed their face under those circumstances. If there was no 9/11, Rudy would have become a joke. This is not the kind of leader we want in the White House. In closing, the New York Post reported in their paper on April 23, that Giuliani spent more than $48,000 dollars of campaign money on posh hotels while claiming to have spent the least of all the Republican candidates. Rudy is a good time leader, and does it with other people's money. Forget Mitt. His ads look bad. He can't seem to get his facts right, and will say things to make himself look good. Red flags go up around him. I spoke with his son Tagg at the New Hampshire debates back in June (2007), and while he seemed like a nice man, Tagg could not get his facts right either. The worst Republican as of late, though, is Larry Craig. He is a lying pervert who wanted gay sex with a strange man on a dirty toilet seat. He pled guilty, then said he was not guilty. Say what? He is another Republican moron. Did you hear about Washington State Republican Rep. Richard Curtis? He offered $1,000 to a young man for unprotected sex while dressed in women's lingerie. This sort of thing just goes on and on with them. Remember Mark Foley? Here is a letter I wrote that was in many newspapers and Web sites:

Once again, the Republicans have turned my stomach with shocking and repulsive behavior. Mark Foley, a Republican member (now ex-member) of Congress, has sent many e-mails with perverted sexual content to a sixteen year old boy. This is the same man who while in Congress, backed a bill that was meant to protect children from child predators. Foley himself, is a man who preyed on a child with lust. What is also incomprehensible, is the fact that some Republicans knew of Foley’s behavior, and yet, did not take a hard stand against this until it became public news. If I had a teenage son and/or daughter, I would not want them to go near any Republican leader for fear of either or both becoming a victim of a sick Republican pervert.

George Vreeland Hill

There were more than three hundred such letters in newspapers in 2007 alone. Many of them in New Hampshire. There are thousands on the Internet. No lie. THOUSANDS! This does not even include articles, ads, radio, TV and other areas where the public takes notice. In fact, one Republican in California wanted me stopped once, because I was hurting some Republicans in their elections. I just want to do my part in helping to get rid of every Republican scumbag. From phone scams to the Union Leader (NH) covering up for Republicans, the garbage never ends. But the Republican Party will end. Did you know that George W. Bush once made fun of the issue of Weapons of Mass Destruction? He did, and in front of some shocked people during a black-tie event in 2004. He said.... (While looking under a piece of furniture) "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere." Then, while pretending to look out of a window, Bush laughed as he said..... "Nope, no weapons over there." While he was laughing, there were men and women fighting and dying in Iraq because of WMD. George W. Bush should be removed from office because of that alone. Face it, Bill Clinton lied about having sex, and was impeached because of it. George W. Bush however, did far worse, as he laughed at the very people who are fighting for the United States of America! That about sums it all up! (By the way, this Bush/WMD was part of an article and letter I wrote as well.) This leads us to John McCain. All he seems to do is attack other candidates. His Woodstock ad against Hillary Clinton was boring and without the facts. He tells of Hillary wanting to spend a million dollars on a museum while he (McCain) supports spending more on the war in Iraq. He wants you to believe that the Democrats are the big spenders, while it is McCain's Republican Party that has spent all the money Bill Clinton left us to a point where Bush had to borrow money from China. Think about that again. We owe to China. That is the Republican way. Also, it must be noted that McCain even laughed at war. Remember when McCain changed the words of a Beach Boys song to Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran? McCain even laughed when he was done. He thought starting a war with Iran was a laughing matter. That is the real John McCain. He just can't be trusted. He is another George Bush, and you know what we got with him. The Republican Party is a mess, and getting worse. People do not trust any of them, and we are all tired of their act. I am doing my best to make sure that no Republican wins an election. Thank you for your time.

The Koufaxes (or "the Sandies") are like the SAG or Golden Globe awards, while the Webbies are comparable to the Oscars. Getting a Koufax denotes being a class act while getting a Webbie, while certainly an honor, takes a little more politickin' than most of the celler-dwelling idealists who blogviate are up for.From The Official Koufax Award site...

The Koufax Awards are intended to help forge a sense of community among bloggers and their readership. We hope to make introductions of bloggers to each other and to readers. We also hope to create a sense that we all live in the same virtual neighborhood and that it is a very nice neighborhood indeed.

A Scrivener's Lament is officially your go-to scrivener for the next big electoral college showdown. In this case Scrivener Delilah Boyd is keeping an eye on the Electoral College of Cardinals, who Scriv thinks may at any moment be called upon to fly off to Rome (that's as in fly by airplane; only nuns can fly for real) and pick a new pope.
But his Holiness is doing better, you must be thinking. Well, the Scriv ain't so sure and even has actual photographs (you'll have to scroll down a bit) of the Holy Father getting viciously attacked by (assumes Scriv) the Lord's messengers of vengeance - apparently to the delight of little children.
Anyhoo, the Lament has been keeping files on top candidates for the next Bishop of Rome so that when the sad day comes, you'll know where to turn for all the horserace action. I mention this only because A Scrivener's Lament has been nominated for a Sandy Award in the Most Humorous Blog category.
At A Scrivener's Lament, Delilah Boyd offers a little sigh over the sudden announcement that the Bushies aren't gonna look for WMDs in Iraq anymore. Then the Scrivener offers a useful list of quotes from the administration hornswaggling the country - oops, I mean being sadly misled by the entire intelligence community - about the possibility of weapons stockpiles in Iraq. Maybe Delilah needs to offer to do some volunteer archiving for large media networks. Apparently NBC, CBS, & ABC's news operations are too cash strapped to afford to hire researchers to dig up obscure, unknown quotes likes these for when the yellowcake hits the fan (or in this case fails to).

I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take
place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room
at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks!
We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...please feel free
to sing along. And don't be surprised if the Managing Director shows
up dressed as Santa Claus!

A Christmas tree will be lit at 1.00p.m.. Exchange of gifts among
employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over
$10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This
gathering is only for employees! The Managing Director will make a
special announcement at the Party.

In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish
employees. We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday, which
often coincides with Christmas. However, from now on we're calling it our 'Holiday Party.' The
same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians. There
will be no Christmas tree or Christmas carols sung. We will have
other types of music for your enjoyment.
Happy now?

Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous
requesting a non-drinking table...you didn't sign your name. I'm
happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table
that reads, "AA Only," you wouldn't be anonymous anymore!!!! How am I
supposed to handle this? Somebody?

Forget about the gift exchange, no gift exchange allowed now since
the Union Officials feel that $10.00 is too much money and Management
believes $10.00 is a little cheap. NO GIFT EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.

What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20th begins
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking
during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can
appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate
our Muslim employees' beliefs, perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal
until the end of the party - or else package everything up for you to take home in a little foil
doggy bag. Will that work?

Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit
farthest from the dessert buffet, and pregnant women will get the
table closest to the toilets. Gays are allowed to sit with each
other, but Lesbians do not have to sit with gay men: each will have their
own table. Yes, there will be flower arrangements for the gay men's
table, too.

To the person asking permission to cross dress - no cross dressing
allowed unless the Supreme Court intervenes before the 23rd.

We will have booster seats for short people. Low fat food will be
available for those on a diet. We cannot control the salt used in the
food. We suggest those people with high blood pressure taste the
food first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, but the
restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry! Did I miss
anything?!?!?!?!?!

Vegetarian pricks! I've had it with you people!!! We're going to keep
this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can
sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you
so quaintly put it; you'll get your f****** salad bar, including
organic tomatoes. But you know tomatoes have feelings, too. They
scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing the
scream right NOW!!

I hope you all have a rotten holiday! Drink, drive and die, Jesus-hating Scum!

I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Pauline Lewis a speedy
recovery, and I'll continue to forward your cards to her. In the
meantime, Management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and,
instead, give everyone the afternoon of December 23rd off with full pay.

Scrivener Humor

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.
The head monk says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." So, he goes down into the dark caves...
...underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.
Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him.
He sees him banging his head against the wall, and wailing, "We forgot the "R", we forgot the "R". His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"
With a choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word was celebrate."